Closing out March with drizzle

Hoping the drizzle would end eventually, I rode out to the old Molson Brewery and made a few paintings. Steady drizzle created an interesting textural effect, while some paint smearing added more energy. I got most of it done on location, just had to touch up the points on the bridge and add my initials. 

Bridge Molson drizzle, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026

While the other one dried I made this painting of an unusual wall and semi-circle gate with grating. Piles of snow remained. It looks like a tunnel entrance but may be some relic of a past industrial age. It is reminiscent of the Griffintown tunnel that was closed in the 90's. 

Grating stone wall, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026

Here is a close up, it was way too moist and I had to add all the brown at home, which unfortunately did not get the same rainy texture as the rest of the painting. Too bad I could not finish it on location but it was time to head home and good thing I did, it really started to pour by the time I got back to NDG. 

Molson clock, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026 

Curio Folio: Venus Pie Trap

Last fall the condo board asked me to trim the grass and tidy up the area around the composter that I use to dispose of fruit and vegetable peelings. To my surprise, there was a group of large Venus fly traps growing behind the composter on the shady side. Venus fly traps are carnivorous plants that lure flies in using a sweet substance, then clamp down and digest them. But looking closer and I saw that these plants had slices of pie in their mouths. I smelled apple pie, my favorite! Reaching out to grab the pie, and the plant clapped down its mouth nearly taking my finger off before I retracted. It was a close call. Then I realized that it was not really apple pie, but a kind of plant-mimic of apple pie, that it must have acquired from the old apple seeds I throw in the composter. The other plants had blueberry pie, strawberry pie, and coconut cream pie... all fake, all deadly. Clearly these plants had evolved to trap humans in their poisonous maw, and I had nearly fallen victim. I actually took a photo of the plants and was about to post that on my blog, but then I recalled a pair of old shoes with the socks still in them back near the compost... and wondered what might have happened. So I erased the pictures off my phone and just posted this painting instead. That way, if needed, I can deny the very existence of these... Venus Pie Traps, as merely a figment of my imagination. So goes another entry of my Curio Folio of amazing new things taking over the world! 

Curio Folio: Venus Pie Trap, watercolour 4 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026 

Curio Folio: Oui Non Device

 

As you may have seen in my latest blog, Montreal has a serious problem with confusing signs. If you need any more convincing check out this painting, or this painting. A start-up company has a new demo product called the Oui Non Device, its completely bilingual although the Yes No font is significantly smaller to comply with our Quebec language laws. The way it works, as you see in the painting, its a light box installed on the dashboard that flashes 'Oui' or 'Non' with a green or red light, depending on the driving circumstances. Lets say you try to turn left, and its okay to do so, then it flashes 'Oui'. Or, you try to park somewhere and its not allowed, it flashes 'Non'. It registers the time of year, bike paths, and construction zones with up-to date information. As an added bonus, if Quebec holds another referendum, you can use it to register your vote since its hyper-linked to the internet. If there is one glitch on the system, is that it will register 'Non' 51% of the time, just to be on the safe side. I saw a version of this being tested in a taxi cab on the way back from the airport, but no photos were allowed so I made this painting from accurate memory to add to my Curio Folio of things you have never seen or wanted to see. 

Curio Folio: Oui Non Device, watercolour 4 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026 

Cacophony of signs, signs of spring

Cacophony usually refers to a mix of noises, but can also refer to a chaotic situation, like these signs. Believe it or not, this is about what it looks like at the entrance to the route 136 highway tunnel under that goes underneath Montreal towards the east. I clipped some of the writing due to space limitation, it said Tunnel Ville Maria, Entree Inderdit quand les feux clingnotte (entrance prohibited when lights flashing). Also, no pedestrians, bikes, Amazon package deliveries, or watercolour painting allowed. A few pylons were placed for good measure. Painting something like this is tricky, it felt like doing a 100 question multiple choice exam.  

Cacophony of signs, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026 

The connector path between Old Montreal and Peel basin is finally opened again after being Fenced off for the last year or so. I got this view of the highway overpass with the melting ice of the basin below. I liked the two signs here, although in real life they were on separate posts which makes more sense. The interesting dark colour in the melting ice is a mix of burnt umber (PBr7) and indo blue (PB60). 

Peel basin signs, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026 

Bridge Concorde connects the Old Port to st Helen's island, it was recently renovated to include a better bike path and resurfaced road. I stayed at the beginning of the bridge and painted a scene of the other bridge, Jacques Cartier, in the background. In the foreground are the pale turquoise railing, sidewalk, bike path, divider, and road, all bending to the right. The tall tree had small leaf buds visible. 

Bridge bridge path, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026  

  

Another sign of spring, this tree had golden yellow shoots growing upwards, awaiting the sunlight. A thin strip of ice clung to the rocky shoreline. I was looking down to the river from the same vantage point as the bridge painting. Sumac trees grew thick along the shoreline. Its been awhile since I painted water ripples. Today was warm enough to use fresh water which allowed more detail, and made for a more pleasant experience than past days. 

Shore ice tree, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026  

Another Saturday protest

 

Things were just too quiet, so I headed home along the Maisonneuve bike path and eventually heard loud yelling over a megaphone coming from the direction of Cabot square. Cops had blocked off car access to st Catherine, and people in cars were upset and shouting at the cops, who just shrugged. A large group of protestors had mobilized on st Catherine and were starting a slow March in an easterly direction. As usual, they had a full escort of police officers in cruisers, as you can see in the painting. The politics are not essential to understand here, you are seeing Canadian, American, and a pre-1979 version of the Iranian flag, along with police cruisers in the foreground.  

Another Saturday protest, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026 

Despite the close proximity of the composition in painting number one, I was actually standing a bout two blocks away, not wanting to get caught in the ruckus like last time. On the corner of Atwater, a cop was blocking traffic, and also preventing buses from turning right into the depot area around Cabot square. It gave me enough time to paint the scene, replacing the police logo with my initials. It was a messy painting because I was getting snowed on the whole time and blasted with cold wind. 

Bus and cruiser, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026   

Last snow downtown Montreal

On what started out as a cool Spring day, I got a few paintings done downtown Montreal, including this one near the Peel basin. On the right is an old warehouse that is boarded up and protected by the City as a landmark. The graffiti people are enjoying it, I replaced the graffiti name with my initials, but used the same kind of font they used. 

Old warehouse graff, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026 

As the canal slowly melts, it gives off an array of blue-green reflections. A collection of buoys and markers were starting to move around in the soft ice, waiting for open water to emerge. In the foreground, is an old pier structure long since turned into a pedestrian and bike bridge, the bridge is unseen to my left. 

Buoys canal melt, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026 

Down on Robert Bourassa street they put up these gigantic glass shards, probably over a hundred stories tall, where there used to be an old brick warehouses and factories. I painted the sky first, let it dry while I did another painting, then placed the buildings. In this way, the buildings kept a sharp edge to give them an artificial look. At street level are some old brick facades, and heavy traffic. 

Glass shards, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026 

Waiting for the previous painting to dry I fired off another one of this pile of snow, perhaps the last pile of snow this season one would hope. On the left is the train elevation where the VIA trains arrive at the station. There is an incredible group of trees around here, just behind me on the left... I will go back and paint them when they have leaves if I get the chance. As I painted, suddenly winter turned back on, and I was getting pelted with hard snowflakes and a bitterly cold, gusting wind. 

Last pile of snow, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026   

 

Sundown on the Turcot warehouse

After the sun set on the Turcot highway interchange, the sky turned orange and blue with coral accents. As my paint brush froze and I froze, this painting was all about getting the right feel, in terms of colour, energy, and the ominous atmosphere of highways in the background.  

Turcot sundown traffic, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026 

This old warehouse shut down last year, now it site derelict as the city decides what to do with it, or some company wants to rent the massive structure. I'd like to see it turned into a wetland, renaturalized for birds and reptiles, but it seems unlikely! Piles of snow remained on the parking area, nestled in among the cool shadows. 

Sundown warehouse, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026 

The first painting I did, this one shows the sun almost down, hovering over the warehouse with truck trailers parked in the depot area. Its interesting to compare the colour and value range of this painting and the other two which were done afterwards. As the sun sets, it picks up more red light from the atmosphere and tints colours strongly. I have a lot of experience painting at all phases of sundown including at night, so its been interesting to develop different colour mixtures for the occasion. I did a page on how to paint skies, and how to paint at night. 

By they way, that sun-effect in the painting, I apply a yellow circle, orange circle and thin magenta circle, then surround in dilute phthalo blue with a slight orange tint on horizon. The hard part is getting the moisture levels on the brush equal on the colour changes so it all blends together, I suppose that's where the skill comes in. Too much water and all the colours blend, too little water and they wont merge properly. The paint started to freeze when I was doing it, luckily I brought some salt water to mix in. 

Sun down truck depot, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026